Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge

I've been counting down the days for something exciting-my dear friend Barb and her husband John coming to camp with us. We met them at the Pea Island Wildlife Refuge and wandered around for a short time. A very short time compared to how long we probably both would have stayed because the mosquitoes were out in killer force even with bug spray on. It is a beautiful refuge from what we did see and we saw a few birds while there.

Refuge Facts

• Established: May 17, 1937.
  
  


• Size: 5,834 acres (land), 25,700 acres (Proclamation Boundary Waters).
  
  


• Located on the north end of Hatteras Island, a coastal barrier island and part of a chain of islands known as the Outer Banks.
  
  


• Approximately 13 miles long (north to south) and ranges from a quarter mile to 1 mile wide (from east to west).
  
  


• Location: 10 miles south of Nags Head, North Carolina on NC 12.
  
  


• Administered by Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge as a part of complex; Alligator River Manager supervises the Mackay Island, Currituck, and Pocosin Lakes National Wildlife Refuge Managers.
  
  


• The Comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for Pea Island National Wildlife Refuge is complete.

Natural History

• Area was historically used for market waterfowl hunting, commercial fishing, farming, and
  
  livestock operations.
  
  


• Refuge is comprised of ocean beach, dunes, upland, fresh and brackish water ponds, salt flats, and salt marsh.


• Bird list boasts more than 365 species; wildlife list has 25 species of mammals, 24 species of reptiles, and 5 species (low number due to salt environment) of amphibians.
  
  


• Concentrations of ducks, geese, swans, wading birds, shore birds, raptors, neotropical migrants are seasonally abundant on refuge.
  
  


• Refuge has 1,000 acres of manageable waterfowl impoundments.
  
  


• Several shorebird nesting areas and wading bird rookeries are located on the refuge.
  
  


• Endangered and threatened species include: peregrine falcons, loggerhead sea turtles, and piping plovers.

Refuge Objectives

• Provide nesting, resting, and wintering habitat for migratory birds, including the greater snow geese and other migratory waterfowl, shorebirds, wading birds, raptors, and neotropical migrants.
  
  


• Provide habitat and protection for endangered and threatened species.
  
  


• Provide opportunities for public enjoyment of wildlife and wildlands resources. Public use programs focus on interpretation, environmental education, wildlife observation, wildlife photography, and fishing.